Thoughts on BioCubes

[fresh]

Hi all,

So after a very lengthy break from this beautiful and expensive addiction (close to 5 years), I cracked and I am back in :)

I thought about starting small and have been leaning heavily into the all-in-one BioCube-14, standard with PC lights.

My questions are:
1) How happy are the owners of these tanks?
2) Any downsides or negatives that I should be aware of?
3) Why does it seem like everybody goes and mods them?
4) What is the going rate now for a used one? I have been out of the market for a while.

#3 above really defeats the purpose of all-in-one tank! I have seen many people online upgrading the lights, modding the back to fit HOB skimmers, or adding sumps and fuges.

I plan on softies and LPS and 1 or 2 smaller fish with some inverts.

Anyhow, I thank you in advance for your input and look forward to reading your comments.

Fresh.

[apexifd]

1) they are good tanks, but numbers of owner actually ending up modding theirs.
2) close hood and PC can generate alot of heat within the tank.
3) cuz, you can always make it better.
4) that all varies quite a bit. condition, stand, upgrades, etc etc.

[Reefie]

I've got a BC29 and am very happy with it. Good quality tank, mods are not "necessary" however a few mods only improve the tank.

I do not recommend the Oceanic Skimmer, a bit of a waste of money. Consider the AquaticLife 115 or the Tunze 9002 (They fit the BC29, not sure if they do with the BC14)

I modded the tank because it's a great tank, but not perfect. I upgraded the stock pump to a MaxiJet 1200, swapped out the PC's for the Vertex Illumilux LED's, the fans on some BC's are noisy, so I've also changed those as well. All my mods were not "necessary" for what you intend on doing with the tank, however the "bug" does bite, and when the "bug" bites you do mods and upgrade the tank.

There are quite a few good forums that get into specifics for modding the BC tanks, just google it.

I also started with just softies and LPS, but soon after came the beauty of SPS.

Not sure of the going rate of BC14's, but a friend of mine picked up a near new BC29 for $200.

[globaldesigns]

I had a JBJ28 and loved it, but within 6 months went to a 180G with sump as you can do soooooo much more!

[Aquattro]

I have a 29g, it's sitting in my kitchen waiting to be sold. I hated it. I hated cleaning it, doing water changes, fishing fish out of the back. I hated the puny little waste of time skimmer. Hopefully somebody buys it soon so I don't have to look at it anymore.

[lorenz0]

I liked my biocube, until i had it beside my tank with t5's on it. after that I upgraded to a 150mh over it and it did well till the sps bug bite me again

there are alot of cheap alternatives to upgrading your lighting, i heard alot of good reviews about the pc-r from nanotuners and under the pc's zoa's, and most lps are very easy to keep.

always loved this guys NC12, stock besides the power head, flo

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll33/stunnerone/IMG_5069.jpg

[Bblinks]

I have a biocube29, well its really the wife's. I gotta sat that I really love the little cube. Its nice and compact, with a few mods you can have yourself a nice tank going. If I were you definitely think about getting te 29 instead of te 14. Usually you can find them on canreef and craigslist for around 300 with the stand. Few places you must check out is repaidled, nanotuner, media basket, dot coms they have ample of amounts of mods that will keep you busy for a while.
Look into redsea max, they have some nice all in one setups. :smile:

[fresh]

Lorenz0, I love that pic. That is roughly what I am shooting for.

Thank you all for the input. Great advice and definitely valuable and valid points.

Please keep the comments coming. I think I am leaning now more towards the BC14. Keep in mind that this is for my office, so BC29 is out of the question ;)

Given that modding is not really required, and for softies and lps it is fine as is, I think we are close to launch :)

[FishyFishy!]

This is what I was able to do with a BC14 with stock lighting (1X10K daytime, and 1X Actinic). I modded the flow diverter from chamber #1 to #2, Got a MaxiJet 900 pump upgrade, made a media rack in chamber #2 for floss, then cheato, then live rock rubble. I had a fuge light shining through the back, then a Hydor Koralia Nano for flow. Heater in chamber 1.

Here is a great link to a great thread on BioCube mods:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=180788

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/bilmaga/DSCN2001-1.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/bilmaga/DSCN2002-1.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/bilmaga/DSCN2003-1.jpg

This was when it was fairly new as well. All the corals grew just fine.

Also had this one:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/bilmaga/Picture043.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/bilmaga/Picture040.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/bilmaga/Picture034.jpg

[msjboy]

For less mainenance such as water changes, evaporation refillings, and the option to put more livestock, definitely get a Larger nano tank.... Have a 34g red sea max and it has been stable from day one with liverock and live sand...have future options of better lighting, sump, etc. Many other brands out there...solano, cadlights, etc.

[FishyFishy!]

For less mainenance such as water changes, evaporation refillings, and the option to put more livestock, definitely get a Larger nano tank.... Have a 34g red sea max and it has been stable from day one with liverock and live sand...have future options of better lighting, sump, etc. Many other brands out there...solano, cadlights, etc.


I only had to top up the 14G like 2 cups a week (because of the closed lid) and did 3-4 gallon water changes every 2 weeks and had great results.

[gobytron]

I've had up to six aquapods/biocubes going at one time in the last.
I LOVE these tanks.

The 12/14 gallon versions DO take a little more maintenance (i spend just as much time on my 12 gallon as my 95) but these tanks cant be beat for versatility and aesthetics.

They look wonderful and are pretty easy to set up so they are relatively bullet proof.

I've kept everything in them, lots of stuff that many would rebuke me for but never for long in those cases.

These tanks make excellent microcosms and if you can handle the extra responsiblity that comes with their successful maintenance I think you'll love it too.

I buy them fairly often for 100-150 used, empty and with a stand for the 12-14 gallon versions and maybe double that for the 24-29 gallon versions.

My current one is the best of the best for these IME.
14 gallon aquapod, Mini Chiller, 70W HQI sunpod and a slew of other upgrades...

[scherzo]

I had one with a 150w MH, a 20 gallon sump and a tunze 9002 skimmer. I loved it... But eventually upgraded.

I'm still thinking of drilling the back and hooking it into my current system maybe as a softie or a really nice frag tank.

[fresh]

Thank you all for all the great input. Mind is set. BC14 it is :)